Titans shut down Mavericks

Tuesday

Jul 31, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By TERRILL COVEYPortsmouth Herald

ROCHESTER — Tyler Dierke silenced the Seacoast Mavericks' bats and got more than enough help from his offense, as the Torrington Titans beat the Mavericks, 7-0, in Futures Collegiate Baseball League play Monday night at Bert George Field.

"We have to improve in all phases of the game," said Mavericks manager Tim Bonehill, on the heels of his team's eighth loss in the past 10 games. "Our pitchers need to throw strikes and we need to hit in situations."

Neither of those things occurred for the Mavericks (20-22) on Monday, as starting pitcher Junior Vasquez had control issues in the second inning and the Mavericks picked up only five hits, while only two Mavericks reached second base in the game.

The trouble started in the second inning, when Vasquez walked two of the first three batters. An RBI single by Kevin Lum gave Torrington a 1-0 lead, and after a bunt single loaded the bases, Ryan Zielinski drew a bases-loaded walk to push the lead to 2-0. Conor Bierfeldt gave the Titans a 4-0 lead with a two-run single later in the inning.

In the top of the fifth, Torrington took a 3-0 lead when Gus Craig singled, stole second, and then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on a sacrifice fly.

The final pair of runs came across in the fifth inning on RBI hits by Lum and Michael Odenwaelder.

The win improved the Titans' record to 24-18 on the season. Manager Misha Dworken said it was an important win coming off two days of rest.

"Extra rest is always good for the body," Dworken said, "but it can be very bad for your baseball timing. Your body feels good but your timing suffers. So it was really good to see the way we played today."

The two teams face off again today in Torrington, Conn.

While the offense was clicking, it was Dierke who stole the show, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out seven. The Torrington bullpen was equally strong, as Jordan Scheiner, Raphael Martinez and Patrick Austin combined for three scoreless innings to close out the win.

"(Dierke) is one of the two or three best pitchers in the league," Dworken said. "He threw great, as he always does, and our defense played great behind him. We had three double plays and threw a guy out trying to take second."

Meanwhile, Bonehill and the Mavericks are hoping to have some pitchers step up and the timely hitting come around to correct the backslide they have been on.

"I give a lot of credit to them," Bonehill said. "Their pitcher is one of the best in the league, and he threw pitches for strikes and kept us off balance, and good pitching beats good hitting every time.

"I'm the last to make excuses, but we lost two pitchers. That is tough, but we should be equipped to have guys step in and fill that role seamlessly, and we need guys to do that."